The Fall of Palmyra

06 March 2017

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) Global Risk and Resilience Leader, Dr Jean-Marc Rickli discusses the fall the Syrian city Palmyra for the second time and the future of ISIS in The Independent.

In the article, he said that regaining Palmyra had been “symbolic” for Isis but its loss was more in line with trends seen elsewhere.

“They [ISIS] will count on opportunistic strikes to score victories easily, and there are plenty of locations where they could do that in the future,” said Dr Rickli. He said Isis’ territorial losses will eventually force it to revert from being a proto-state with its own institutions, back to its origins as an insurgency movement.

He added: “We’re moving from a strategy of territorial control to guerrilla operations where they attack and retreat.”

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The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is an international foundation established in 1995, with 52 member states, for the primary purpose of promoting peace, security and international cooperation through executive education and training, applied policy analysis and dialogue.